The only reason for the range extender is to get your EV to a place that it normally could not reach. I've seriously considered building one for my 914, as my range is only 70 miles. Yes, the mileage is worse when using the extender, that is to be expected. However, the range extender is probably a better idea than using a pickup truck and trailer.
YMMV. :) Cheers, Peter On 2/17/16 10:13 AM, Robert Bruninga via EV wrote: > Just pulling my 4'x4' solar power trailer (about the smallest trailer > there is) and only 10" high plus the wheels decreases my Prius mileage by > 10 MPG at least. That is a 20% range reduction right there... > > Bob > > -----Original Message----- > From: EV [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bill Dube via EV > Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 1:10 PM > To: EVDL Administrator; Electric Vehicle Discussion List > Subject: Re: [EVDL] Leaf range extender > > Trailer range extenders have the severe limitation of adding drag to the > EV. The drag added by a trailer is quite significant and can negate a > large fraction of the added kW-hrs of whatever you may be hauling with the > trailer. > > It tends to be a "two steps forward, one step back" type situation. > The two additional wheels plus the aerodrag tend to be more than you would > initially think. In practice, I have found that pulling a small trailer > will increase the W-hr per mile usage of an EV by as much as 50%. It is an > eye opener. > > If you think about it, hauling a trailer is a lot of like dragging half a > car along behind you. > > Bill D. > > At 10:25 AM 2/17/2016, you wrote: >> On 17 Feb 2016 at 16:36, Peri Hartman via EV wrote: >> >>> There have been a lot of past discussions on range >> extending. Trailers, small >>> onboard chargers, etc. In my opinion, they are rarely justified >> >> A battery trailer isn't exactly elegant, but it works. It lets you >> have a small, light battery in your EV to handle your everyday needs, >> but still have lots of range (only) when you need it. >> >> The big downside is that a trailer is a royal pain to back. It also >> makes the car longer. Forget parallel parking. >> >> Team New England's Solectria Force ran a battery trailer for 3 years >> (1999- >> 2002) in the Tour de Sol. It got 156 miles on a charge, about 3-4 times >> the typical range for a lead-battery Force. They had a total of about > 26kWh. >> >> http://drmm.net/images/tne_super_force.png >> >> The battery trailer is a kid's sandbox on wheels! The shape not only >> improved the aerodynamics, it also got a lot of smiles from onlookers. >> >> I wonder how a Leaf would fare with a scheme similar to the plug-in >> Prius conversions of several years ago, where the aux battery is set up >> to just keep charging the Leaf's onboard battery. >> >> David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA >> EVDL Administrator > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag > racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
